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Posts published in February 25th, 2013

Maybe it’s time for Batman to consider going solo again. On Wednesday DC Comics will publish issue No. 8 of “Batman Incorporated.” The comic, written by Grant Morrison, will feature the death of Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and the current Robin.

Mr. Morrison took on the assignment of writing Batman in 2006. One of his first achievements was incorporating Damian, who was introduced in a 1987 story, as the love child of Batman and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of one of Batman’s enemies, Ra’s al Ghul. Damian was trained to kill, but Batman tries to mold him into a hero. In a statement at dccomics.com, Mr. Morrison said his theme was about damaged and ruined families and that he had the ending long in mind: “For what son could ever hope to replace a father like Batman, who never dies?”

Batman’s original partner was Dick Grayson, who was introduced in 1940, but he could stay a kid partner for only so long. Forty-three years later he matured into the hero Nightwing and was replaced by Jason Todd. But Jason proved unpopular. In 1988 DC conducted a survey — fans could call in their opinions — on whether Jason should survive a bomb blast set by the Joker. Readers voted nay.

In 1989, just one year after Jason’s death, DC introduced Tim Drake, who eventually became Robin. He proved more popular with readers and is currently appearing as Red Robin in the monthly “Teen Titans” series. But have no worries about Jason Todd. Because this is comics and nearly no one stays dead, he was resurrected in 2005. Jason is now the star of “Red Hood and the Outlaws,” a monthly series from DC Comics.

Holland Taylor in "Ann," a play about Ann Richards, the former Texas governor. The show opens on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on March 7.Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

The spring theater season can be hard to pin down. Sure, Broadway’s got its share of celebrities, including Tom Hanks in “Lucky Guy” and Bette Midler in “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers.” But there are also new plays and musicals about complex and compelling women and the worries of the working-class. Making decisions about what to see — Cinderella or Matilda? Ann Richards or the Virgin Mary? Diana Ross or drag queens? — won’t be easy.

To help you get a sense of what’s to come, Charles Isherwood, theater critic for The New York Times, is taking your questions about the new season’s offerings on and off Broadway. Please post your queries in the comments below — we’ll pose some of them to Mr. Isherwood and publish his answers here on Thursday.

In the surest sign that peace, calm and normalcy had been restored to Hollywood after a raucous Academy Awards ceremony, it was announced on Monday morning that Lindsay Lohan would appear in a coming episode of “Anger Management,” the FX sitcom starring Charlie Sheen.

Lionsgate, the studio that produces “Anger Management,” said in a news release that Ms. Lohan would play herself in an episode scheduled to be shown in April, in which she “develops a romantic relationship with Sheen’s character after becoming his therapy patient.”

Ms. Lohan, whose career has seen some bumps of late — the chilly reception to her Lifetime movie, “Liz & Dick”; an instantly notorious account of her various shenanigans on the set of “The Canyons” — seems to have found a kindred spirit in Mr. Sheen.

Mr. Sheen, whose own misdeeds could not possibly be chronicled in this short space, has recently worked with Ms. Lohan in the comedy “Scary Movie 5.” He also said that he had given Ms. Lohan $100,000 out of his own payment for the film, so that their salaries would be more equal. TMZ reported that Ms. Lohan later sent Mr. Sheen a bouquet in thanks for his generosity.

The satirical publication The Onion apologized on Monday for a post published Sunday night on its Twitter account that made an obscene reference to Quvenzhané Wallis, the 9-year-old actress nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

“On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars,” Steve Hannah, chief executive of The Onion wrote in a post on Facebook. “It was crude and offensive — not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.”

Mr. Hannah’s post continued: “No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire. The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again. In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible. Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry.”

The tweet was posted during the Academy Awards ceremony amid other comical items about the Oscars. (“Daniel Craig Takes Home Pretty Good Actor Award,” read one parody headline, while another declared, “Kathryn Bigelow Stuns on Red Carpet Wearing Blood-Soaked Rags Osama bin Laden Was Killed In.”)

The item about Ms. Wallis was widely retweeted but also drew quick condemnation from followers of The Onion’s Twitter account, and was deleted about an hour or so after it was published. The offending tweet was posted around the same time that Seth MacFarlane, the Oscars host, remarked about Ms. Wallis that “it’ll be 16 years before she’s too old for” George Clooney, a joke that was also criticized for being insensitive to the young actress.

Hey, you got “Animal Crackers” in my “Bridges of Madison County”! No, you got “Bridges of Madison County” in my “Animal Crackers”! There may be no resolving this debate, but whether you’re a fan of madcap comedy or musicals adapted from best-selling romance novels, this summer’s Williamstown Theater Festival will have something to offer you, judging by Monday’s announcement of its lineup.

This year’s festival will open on June 26 with “Animal Crackers,” the Marx Brothers farce (with a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, and music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby) that introduced characters like Captain Spaulding, the explorer who once shot an elephant in his pajamas. (And how it got in his pajamas, he’ll never know.) This revival is adapted and directed by Henry Wishcamper, and will run through July 14; no casting was immediately announced.

The lineup also includes the world premiere of “The Bridges of Madison County,” a musical adapted from that Robert James Waller novel about a lovelorn Italian woman and the photographer who reawakens her passion for structural spans, among other things. The musical features a book by Marsha Norman; music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown; and is directed by Bartlett Sher. It is scheduled to run from Aug. 1 through 18. While Kelli O’Hara played the lead female role in a 2011 workshop, no casting was announced.

Other works announced on Monday include a revival of “Pygmalion” starring Robert Sean Leonard and directed by Nicholas Martin; “American Hero,” a new play by Bess Wohl and directed by Leigh Silverman; a new production of Tom Stoppard’s thriller “Hapgood,” featuring Kate Burton and directed by Evan Yionoulis; and “Johnny Baseball,” a musical about the curse of the Boston Red Sox, with a book by Richard Dresser, music by Robert Reale, lyrics by Willie Reale and directed by Marc Bruni. “Johnny Baseball” had its premiere in 2010 at the American Repertory Theater.